Merkel gives Greece more time
 
 
 Chancellor admits that mistakes can’t be mended in three years; Papaconstantinou wants EU to reform how ratings agencies work
		
		
	
	
   Germany’s Angela Merkel wants Greece to be given more than three  years to sort out its public finances, the chancellor said in a plea for  the repayment terms of its bailout to be extended.
”Greece has to  cope with the consequences of its grave errors in financial policies.  You can’t do that in three years,” Merkel is quoted as saying in the  preliminary version of a report to be published in German newspaper Bild  Friday.
A 110 billion euro European Union-International Monetary  Fund bailout program for Greece set up in May last year is scheduled to  run out in 2013.
Merkel also rejected a restructuring of Greek debt, telling the newspaper that ”no instruments” for that were available.
The  German Chancellor also said further aid for euro-zone countries needs  to be linked to strict conditions and that Germany will veto future  bailouts if prerequisites for aid aren’t given.
Any future bailout also needs to be decided upon by all euro-zone countries, Merkel added.
Euro-zone  government leaders meet in Brussels today to debate stricter rules on  budget discipline, a strengthening of a temporary fund to bailout  troubled euro-zone members, and details for a future permanent rescue  fund.
Meanwhile, Greek Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou  has asked the EU to urgently reform the way ratings agencies are allowed  to operate after what he called ”unbalanced and unjustified” downgrades  of Greece and other struggling European economies.
Papaconstantinou  wrote in a letter on Thursday that a ratings cut of Greek debt by  Moody’s this week risked creating damaging “self-fulfilling prophesies.”
On  Monday, Moody’s downgraded Greece’s debt grade further below junk  status, slashing its rating by three notches to B1 from Ba1. The agency  also slashed Spain’s rating on Thursday, by one notch to Aa2.
On  Wednesday, ten members of Parliament from Greece’s ruling Socialist  party signed a petition urging the government to take legal action  against Moody’s, claiming the agency had deliberately intended to weaken  the country’s negotiating position ahead of this week’s European Union  meeting.
                            
ekathimerini.com , Thursday  March 10, 2011 (18:12)  
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